The use of fans to move air through heat exchangers is well known, especially in the fields of air conditioning and motor vehicle cooling. In motor vehicles, the fans are typically used adjacent radiators in order to either push air or pull air through the radiator in order to cool liquids which are circulating through the engine and/or other accessories. The fans are typically driven by an electric motor, or via a transmission from an associated engine in motor vehicles. The fans are usually disposed so that the radial plane of the fan extends parallel to a face portion or surface of the associated heat exchanger, such as a radiator.
Fans of this type are commonly referred to as “axial flow fans”. In order to assist in providing the air flow in an axial direction, shrouds are typically utilized. Air flow components in other directions are typically wasteful of energy and can impinge upon various mechanical structures around the heat exchanger and/or radiator and can increase the overall noise provided by the system.
When the systems or vehicles are sold in substantial quantities, individual shrouds are typically provided for each of the products, systems or vehicles and are designed specifically for the particular air flow of that particular system or vehicle. The shrouds typically have vanes of one type or another which are provided of particular size, shape and angularity in order to optimize the air flow through the particular system or vehicle. It is often uneconomical, however, to provide separate shrouds with vane designs for a particular system or vehicle which are not made or sold in substantial quantities.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved shroud and vane system which is less expensive to make and provide for products, systems and vehicles which are typically not sold in substantial quantities. It is another object of the present invention to provide a fan shroud and vane system with modular components in order to allow modification of the shroud easily for different vehicles and products.